April 28, 2010
Hattiesburg, MS - Noetic Technologies, Inc. hosted the 6th annual “Invent Your Future!” competition on April 27. The contest included 7 teams competing for a total of $20,000 in prize money. The event took place at The Accelerator, the flagship building in The Garden. The Garden is The University of Southern Mississippi’s 500 acre innovation and commercialization park.
The purpose of “Invent Your Future!” is to promote innovation and entrepreneurship by showcasing inventions from all fields and providing startup capital to drive the venture to the next stage of development. “The contestants and their presentations were outstanding once again”, said Dr. Patrick Kinlen of Crosslink. “I’ve served as a judge for Invent Your Future for several years now, and I can attest that this year’s competitors were among the best to date.” Winners of the 2010 “Invent Your Future!” competition are:
$10,000 1st Place: Ashley Montgomery and Sandeep Naik
Invention: Antibacterial Cross-linked Chitosan for Wound Dressing Applications
Ashley Montgomery and Sandeep Naik’s winning invention is anti-bacterial crosslinked chitosan for wound dressing applications which prevents wounds from being infected with Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria. MRSA infections have been detrimental to the healthcare industry over the past 10 years. Through use of biocompatible polymers with antibacterial properties, these bandages will put a check on threat by MSRA.
Ashley Montgomery, a native of Paducah, KY, received her B.S. in Biochemistry A.C.S. from Mississippi College in 2008 and now is a Ph.D. candidate at USM School of Polymer Science and High Performance Materials. She joined the Savin research group in June of 2009 and is currently investigating the behavior of polypeptide block copolymers in ionic liquids.
Sandeep Naik has a B.Tech. degree in Surfactants and Oleochemicals from U.D.C.T-Mumbai, India. He is a joint Ph.D. candidate at the University of Vermont and USM School of Polymer Science and High Performance Materials. Currently, he is working with Dr. Daniel A. Savin on synthesis and design of bio-based block copolymers as drug delivery vehicles.
$6,000 2nd Place: Deepika Sagaram and Rose Huang
Company: CervoCheck, LLC
Invention: Cervical Ring for Detecting Preterm Labor Indications
Preterm birth is a huge problem that impacts over 13 million babies worldwide. Every 2.4 seconds, a preterm infant is born. These babies are 3 times less likely to survive the next 24 hours and are at high risk for a lifetime of medical complications. This costs the US healthcare system over 26 billion dollars annually. Current technologies cannot accurately detect the key indicators of preterm labor, such as uterine contractions.
CervoCheck addresses these issues through accurate monitoring and measurement of the progression of uterine and cervical activity. Processing and displaying the received signals will allow early detection of preterm labor. With internal electrode placement, CervoCheck will provide physicians with an accurate and reliable tool to determine the onset of preterm labor.
Rose Huang received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2009. She is a current graduate student in the Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design (CBID) program within the Biomedical Engineering department. She has previous experience in marketing strategies, patent analysis and cardiovascular disease treatments.
Deepika Sagaram received her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Currently she is a M.S. candidate in the Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design (CBID) program within the Biomedical Engineering department. She has extensive clinical experience and is interested in becoming an obstetrician.
Karin Hwang is a current graduate student in the Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design (CBID) program within the Biomedical Engineering department. As a graduate student she has used her background in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and medical devices and business acumen to develop a business plan for a pre-term labor monitor.
Christopher Courville received B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He is currently a M.S. candidate in the Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design (CBID) program within the Biomedical Engineering department at Johns Hopkins University. He has previous experience in electrical engineering and clinical research.
$4,000 3rd Place: Mark Jensen and Sam Kearl
Company: Altus Poles
Invention: Composite Lattice Manufacturing
Altus Poles is reforming multiple industries by providing an automated manufacturing process for composite grid structures, which has already proven to appeal in many markets. Due to labor intensive manufacturing processes, composite grid structures have been handicapped in scale and design configurations and more importantly in market availability. Altus specializes in automated braiding techniques that produce continuous lengths of many different composite grid designs. In turn, Altus will disrupt various markets as its automated manufacturing processes are licensed to companies operating in many markets, including utility poles, towers and aerospace components.
Mark Jensen and Sam Kearl recently graduated from Brigham Young University. Mark received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Sam received his M.B.A. They are currently launching Altus Poles out of Provo Utah and plan to start delivering their composite poles this fall. Mark's background is in the synthesis of polycrystalline diamond and with its uses in research and aerospace machining. Before returning for an MBA, Sam worked as a purchasing agent, managing the construction of over 75 homes.
Pictured left to right are the 2010 “Invent Your Future!” winners:
Deepika Sagaram, Rose Huang, Ashley Montgomery, Sandeep Naik,
Mark Jensen, and Sam Kearl
The winners of the competition will utilize the prize money to further research and develop their inventions. The keynote address during the awards presentation was given by Mr. Michael Graber, Managing Partner of Southern Growth Studio. Sponsors for the event were:
- Crosslink
- The Area Development Partnership
- Mississippi Power
- Mississippi Technology Alliance
- Sabic
- Howrey
- Ablitech, Inc.
About “Invent Your Future!”:
“Invent Your Future!” is an annual invention competition which began in 2005. The technology-oriented competition is designed to identify innovative ideas in Mississippi and the surrounding region, and to foster their commercial potential. A total of $80,000 in winnings have been distributed since “Invent Your Future!” began.
“Invent Your Future!” serves as a launching point for many inventors and led to the formation of several new companies. In total, three companies have been formed, employing a total of five people in Hattiesburg. These companies have also secured federal research grants totaling over $400,000 . Winners from the past three Invent Your Future contests have enjoyed further success in other competitions such as the Memphis Fed Ex Business Plan Competition and the Mississippi Technology Alliance Business Plan Competition.
About Noetic Technologies:
Noetic Technologies, Inc. began as an initiative of The University of Southern Mississippi and is geared toward marketing and commercialization of the university’s technology. Since 2004, Noetic has played a vital role in bringing ideas to the marketplace for several high tech startup companies. Noetic’s management team comprises over fifty years of combined experience in market research, product development, process management, and marketing strategies.
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